How does Afton promote?

We are very proud of how much we promote our shows. Below is a list of all the ways we help our artists promote our shows. IF there is a specific outlet we do not currently use, it’s most likely because we have tested that type of media outlet in the past and found it yielded little to no results in increasing attendance.

But if you have ideas on other tactics we should use for promo, please email your Booking Rep to suggest it.

So far, we have never seen any music venue promoting their local shows as much as we do – nor any other company. We always welcome feedback, but we feel we do a lot to help our acts, and we feel good about that.

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HOW WE PROMOTE OUR SHOWS:
We have yet to see another company or venue that promotes their local artists more than we do. We do all that we can to get the word out about our shows, and the efforts we make to do so are usually far beyond what anyone else is doing for local shows. Below are most of the major ways we help you promote your show with us!

FLIERS TO EACH ARTIST:
We get fliers into the hands of every artist on each show we put on – with the FLIER PACK they create for free with the Flier Generator we provide them as a free service. This provides each act with handbills, full page posters, web banner images, and an online image of the flier for all website and blog promo. We also put fliers into the hands of EVERY SINGLE FAN that buys a ticket online.

FLIERS TO EACH FAN:
We essentially help create an unofficial “street team,” by providing each fan that buys a ticket online (at www.AftonShows.com) with a PDF packet that includes 4-per page handbills, full page poster, and Promotion Strategies that explains to the fan WHY they should help you promote your show.
We help equip every act’s fans with a “street team” mindset, and explain the huge impact they can make. Because of this, we have more fliers posted throughout the city then most, (if not all), other local shows featuring local artists.

ONLINE ADS:
As artists get advance sales rolling I’m able to clear for them special ONLINE ADS that we run specifically for them in their city, to gain exposure for them and to get word out about THEIR SHOW.
Between all of the online ads we run for our artists throughout the booking process there will be anywhere from 20,000 up to 100,000+ impressions of online ads for each show. (not every act on the show will qualify for the spotlight online ads, but many do). If you want more info on how to get these online ads ran FOR YOU specifically, on our dime, let me know!

HIGHLY TRAFFICKED WEBSITE VISIBILITY:
Your show will also be listed on our website (www.aftonshows.com), which receives thousands of visitors each week. The show will also be listed on the venue’s calendar as well.
*note: The venue may do additional advertising for your show such as include the show in their print ads and put posters up around the club, or put the line up on their marquee; but this is at their discretion.

TENS OF THOUSANDS IN OUR SOCIAL NETWORK:
We also have a social network between our Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter accounts of tens of thousands. We regularly post updates and tweet about our show listings and featured artists.

FEATURED ARTIST CAMPAIGNS:
On our main ticketing website we have “Featured Artist” spots that showcase the artist’s picture, act name, and links to buy tickets for the show they are playing for us. This is free to our artists, and is earned by one of the top ticket sellers for that show. This is ranked each week and rotates weekly. The featured artists are seen by thousands of music fans buying tickets for upcoming events!

Afton strives to raise awareness for all of our shows, and aims to maximize exposure for our artists in the process. On the local level, there is no promotion tactic that is more successful than simple face-to-face interaction between an artist and their fans.

No company, agency, or club can ever substitute this vital interaction between artist and fan.

Because of this, we will always do our best to get the word out about our shows, and to create awareness about our artists while they proactively network and build their fan base through their personal connections.

Nobody can do the work for you, but rest assured we are doing everything we can to get our show listings and our artists out to millions of music fans nationwide. The ads we run are meant to supplement what our artists are already doing. Anytime you book with Afton, you can count on this, while you are making every effort to promote your show, SO ARE WE!

We also constantly encourage creative thinking so that artists can solve their problems and reach their definition of success.

If you ever want specific promo strategies, just ask your Booking Rep, and he/she can send more tips and resources over to help you grow your fan base and maximize your draw.

Why doesn't Afton promote in [insert ad medium here]?

Over the years, we’ve tried pretty much every promo idea that we’ve come across. And every time we try a promo idea, we measure the results, to see if it is effective and cost-effective. Our aim is to maximize attendance for our shows, maximize exposure for our artists, and maximize payouts for the artists who work hard to draw out fans. The things that we currently do to promote every show have stood up to careful testing and have proven to be the most effective for maximizing attendance – as well as exposure and payouts for our artists.

If something is NOT effective but has a cost – even if it’s just a labor cost to pay staff to do it – then it’s cutting into what we are able to pay our hardest working artists. When that’s the case, we don’t do that type of promo, because we want to keep artist payment as high as possible.

But when something is cost-effective, either for adding attendance or gaining exposure for our artists, then we’re thrilled to be able to make that type of promo a high priority.

Any type of promo we’re not doing has probably not stood up to rigorous testing and we’ve found to be in effective for the costs involved. But if you think there’s an opportunity we’re missing out on, please email your suggestion to your Booking Rep, so we can test it out.